Buckle



No. 495,118. Patented Apr. 11, 1893.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

, WVILBUR F. OSBORNE, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 495,118, dated April 11, 1893.

Application filed August 8, 1892. Serial No. 442,445. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILBUR F. OSBORNE, of Ansonia, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvementin Buckles, (13;) andI do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1, a view in front elevation of a buckle constructed in accordance with my invention, a portion of the tube on the upper side of the buckle-frame being shown in section; Fig. 2, a similar reverse view of the buckle; Fig. 3, a view of the buckle in end elevation; Fig. 4, a view of the buckle in vertical transverse section, on the line 00 m of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a detail view in transverse vertical section through the sliding-bar and clampinglever on the line yy, of the same figure; Fig. 6, a view of the buckle in horizontal section on the line zz of the same figure, showing how the teeth of the bar co-operate with the guard to grip the web; Fig. '7, a detached view in elevation, of the clamping-bar blank; Fig. 8, a similar view of the sliding-bar blank.

My invention relates to an improvement in suspender buckles, the object being to produce a simple, easily operated and effective device.

With these ends in View, my invention consists in the combination with a buckle-frame constructed at its lower end with a central depending hook; of a guard swung from'the upper portion of the said frame, and extending downward to co-act with the hook thereof; a sliding-bar having sliding connection at its ends, with the ends of the frame, and a clamping-lever hinged to the sliding-bar and having its clamping edge extended to co-act with the upper portion of the guard, which is thus thrown forward.

My invention further consists in certain details of construction and combination of parts,

' as will be hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

The frame of my improved buckle has its body shaped like a parallelogram, in its general outline, and is virtually composed of an upper side A, a lower side A, ends B, B, and a hook C, depending, centrally, from the said lower side A. The said frame is formed from a single piece of wire, bent into the required shape, the ends of the said wire forming the upper side A, of the buckle-frame proper, and being virtually joined together by a tube D, which turns upon them, and forms a member of the guard. The said guard is composed, in its main part, of a piece of wire bent to form an open transverse cross-bar, E, and a guardfinger E, depending, centrally, from the lower side of the said cross-bar, and extending downward into the hook below the upturned end thereof, so as to act as a guard in holding the ring therein. A shank E extending upward from the center of the upper side of the cross-bar E, terminates in two parallel, oppositely extending retaining ends, E E which are entered centrally into the tube D before mentioned, the said tube being furnished with a centrally depending portion D, which is clasped around the shank E, whereby the tube and the main-portion of the guard are coupled together. The guard is thus swung from the upper side of the frame, through the tube D, which swings on the ends of the wire forming the said frame, as upon trunnions. I do not, however, limit myself to swinging the guard from the upper side of the frame specifically, as it might be swung from the upper ends of the ends thereof, the requirement being simply that it be swung fromthe upper portion of the buckle-frame. I have described the tube D, as forming a part of the guard, inasmuch as it is directly coupled with the main portion thereof, and moves therewith; but it might also be considered as forming a part of the upper side of the frame, which for convenience of .descrip 'tion I have said to be composed of the ends of the wire, from which it is formed. I The sliding-bar F, of my improved buckle, is made from a single piece of sheet-metal, and has its ends bent forward at a right angle, as at F, F, (Fig. 6,) and bent around the respective ends B, B, of the buckle frame, with which the said sliding bar is thus connected in sliding connection. By bending the ends of the bar forward as at F, I the bar is sulficiently set back, so to speak, from the rear face of the frame, to give aspace between its forward face and the rear face of the guard, for the web, which is not shown. The upper edge of the said sliding-bar is constructed, near its ends, with two openings, F F which receive leaves G, G, (Fig. 5,) which are bent forward from the ends of the upper edge of the clamping-lever, G, which is also formed of sheet-metal, whereby the said clampinglever is hinged to the back of the upper edge of the sliding-bar. The said upper edge of the clamping-lever is bent forward, and as herein shown, is toothed or serrated, to form a clamping edge G which is represented enough shorter in length than the length of the opening in the cross-bar E, to permit the said edge to enter the same, when the clamping-lever is turned down into its active position but this construction just mentioned is notimperative. The lower edge of the sliding-bar is centrally cut away as at F to clear the central portion of the lower edge of the clamping-lever,-as well shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings,-to permit the said lever to be readily engaged by the fingers when in its closed position, for turning it to release orintroduce the web. It willbe noticed also, that the clamping-edge G of the clamping-bar, is cut away centrally, as at G the same being designed to form a space for clearing the shank A and clasp B, of the guard, when the sliding-bar is drawn by strain on the webbing, to the upper end of the frame, in which position the webbing is held against the possibility of release by outward strain upon it. This is the normal adjustment of the parts of the buckle when the same is in use, the webbing being gripped between the clamping-edge of the clamping-lever, and the upper portion of the guard at a point just below the hinge thereof, whereby the guard is pushed forward, so that its guard-finger will engage with the up-turned end of the hook, and close the same, to prevent the escape of the ring. More specifically, the webbing is gripped between the clamping-edge of the clamping-lever and tube D, and clasp D, of the guard, which thus has the function of a presser-bar. Considering the tube as a portion of the upper side of the frame, (as it might be considered, as I have already mentioned,) the webbing is gripped between the clam pin gedge of the clamping-lever and the upper side of the frame.

To web the buckle, the sliding-bar must be moved away from the upper portion of its guard, or, or in other words, from the upper side of the frame, and the clamping-lever turned out into its open position. Then, after the webbing has been threaded through the buckle, the sliding-bar is pushed or drawn upward, until the webbing is gripped by the clamping edge of the lever and the upper portion of the guard. The out-ward pressure thus imposed upon the guard, throws the same forward as by'a spring. When it is desired to adjust the webbing in the buckle, the sliding-bar is pulled away from the upper portion of the guard, and the upper side of the frame, and the clamping-lever turned into its open position, after which the webbing may be slipped through the buckle freely.

I do not limit myself to forming the buckle exactly as shown and described, for it is obviously susceptible to some change and variation, without departing from my invention. Thus, the shape and specific construction of the guard might be altered.

I am aware that it is old to make a buckle having a wire frame constructed with upper and lower sides and ends, and with a hook depending centrally from its lower side, a guard made of wire and swung from the upper side of the frame, extended downward to coact with the hook thereof, and trans versely enlarged between its ends, a bar applied to the ends of the frame and extending parallel with the sides thereof, and a clamping-lever hinged to the said bar to coact with the upper portion of the guard in gripping the web. I do not therefore claim such a construction broadly, but only my construction as herein shown and described.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. The herein described Suspender-buckle, consisting of a wire frame having parallel sides and ends, and a hook centrally depending from its lower side, a wire guard swung from the upper portion of the frame and constructed at its lower end with a guardfinger which extends into the said hook and closes the mouth thereof, and transversely enlarged between its ends to form a cross-bar, a flat sheet-metal bar having sliding connection at its ends with the parallel ends of the frame, and a sheet-metal clamping-lever hinged to the said bar, and having its clamping-edge bent forward and extended to coact in gripping the web with the cross-bar of the guard, substantially as described.

2. The herein described suspender-buckle, consisting of the wire frame having parallel sides and ends, and a hook centrally depending from its lower side, a wire guard swung from the upper portion of the said frame, and constructed with a guard-finger which extends into the said hook and closes the mouth thereof, and with a transversely enlarged cross-bar located between its upper and its lower ends, a flat sheet-metal bar having sliding connection at its ends with the parallel ends of the frame, and having its ends bent to set it back from the frame so as to receive the webbing between its inner face and the rear face thereof, and a sheetmetal clamping-lever located back of said specification in the presence of two subscribsliding bar, hinged to the upper edge thereing Witnesses. of, and having its upper edge extended in- Ward over the upper edge of the said sliding WILBUR OSBORNE 5 bar to coact with the cross-bar of the guard Witnesses:

in gripping the web, substantially as set forth. FERGUS KELLY,

In testimony whereof I have signed this CHAS. O. LAMBERT. 

